1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method and apparatus for file transfer for transferring a file accessed for reading (hereinafter simply referred to as accessed) in a unit to another unit, and to a computer readable recording medium recording a file transfer program. More specifically, the present invention relates to method and apparatus for file transfer for automatically transferring an accessed file to a connected another unit, and to a computer readable recording medium storing the file transfer program.
Here, a file refers to a minimum unit of a resource addressed by a resource providing side.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, a technique referred to as xe2x80x9ccachexe2x80x9d for high speed accessing of a file provided by a server computer at a client computer through a communication network has been known and disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 4-313126.
In xe2x80x9ccachexe2x80x9d technique, an accessed file is stored in a hard disc of a client computer or in a hard disc of an alternate server (referred to as a gate way computer in the aforementioned Laid-Open Application) provided between the client computer and the communication network, and when there is an access request to the same file thereafter in the client computer, the stored content of the hard disc is accessed. This allows faster file access between the client computer and the server computer.
The function of the above described xe2x80x9ccachexe2x80x9d has been developed only for the purpose of increasing the speed of accessing to the same file the next time and thereafter. Therefore, the accessed file is not automatically transferred to various information units connected directly to the client computer, and file transfer has been done by manual operation of a user.
For this manual operation, it has been necessary for the user to determine to which connected information unit the accessed file is to be transferred and perform file transfer operation in accordance with the result of determination file by file. Such file transfer operation is troublesome and prone to mistakes.
An object of the present invention is to provide method and apparatus for file transfer allowing transfer and delivery of a file accessed in response to a request generated in the apparatus to that one of a plurality of units connected to the apparatus which requires the file, and to provide a computer readable recording medium recording a file transfer program.
The method of file transfer in accordance with the present invention is applied to an apparatus having one or more different device drivers and one or more different units connected through respective device drivers for delivering files to the one or more units through corresponding device drivers respectively, characterized by the following steps: a file access step for accessing a file in response to an access request generated in the apparatus; and a file delivery step for delivering, when it is determined for each of the one or more device drivers that the device driver is used for the delivery of the file accessed in the file access step, the file accessed in the access step to that unit which is connected through the device driver.
Therefore, when a file is accessed in the file access step in response to the access request generated in the apparatus, the accessed file is delivered in the file delivery step through the device driver used for the delivery of the file, to the unit connected thereto.
Therefore, when the file is accessed in response to an access request in the apparatus, the accessed file is automatically transferred to that unit which needs the file, without any operation by the user. Accordingly, files required by respective units can be transferred at high speed and erroneous transfer process by manual operation is avoided, and therefore process efficiency in transferring the accessed file to the unit requiring the file is improved.
In the above described method of file transfer, the step of file delivery may include a device driver determining step for determining, for each of the one or more device drivers, based on the data type of the file accessed in the file access step, whether the device driver is the one used for delivery of the file.
By the device driver determining step, the device driver which is used for file delivery, namely the unit requiring delivery of the file, can be easily determined based on the data type of the accessed file. Accordingly, without any operation by the user, among the files accessed in response to access requests in the apparatus, only the corresponding files required by respective ones of the plurality of units can be selected and automatically transferred and delivered in accordance with the types of data required.
The apparatus to which the above described file transfer method is applied further has a file selection table storing, for each of the one or more device drivers, data type of files of which delivery is requested by the unit connected to the device driver. The above described device driver determining step may be adapted such that for each of the one or more device drivers, when the data type of the file accessed in the file access step is stored in the corresponding file selection table, the device driver is determined to be that device driver which is used for delivery of the file.
Therefore, the unit requiring the file accessed in the file access step can be determined in accordance with the content of the file selection table, and the file can be transferred and delivered thereto. Accordingly, in accordance with the contents set in the file selection table, the unit which is the destination of delivery of the file accessed in the file access step can easily be determined.
The apparatus to which the above described file transfer method is applied further has a delivery procedure table storing, for each of the one or more device drivers, the procedure of delivering the file to the unit connected to the device driver. The file delivery step may be adapted such that in accordance with the content of the delivery procedure table corresponding to that device driver which has been determined in the device driver determining step to be the device driver used for the delivery of the file accessed in the file access step, the file is delivered to the unit connected to the device driver.
Accordingly, delivery of the file accessed in the file access step to each unit in the file delivery step is performed in accordance with the delivery procedure in the delivery procedure table provided for each of the one or more device drivers, that is, for each unit. Therefore, it is possible to easily transfer and deliver the file, which is the object of delivery, to each unit simply in accordance with the delivery procedure in the delivery procedure table.
The above described objects of the present invention is attained by the file transfer device having one or more different device drivers and one or more units connected through respective device drivers, for delivering files to the one or more units using corresponding device drivers respectively, characterized by a file access section for accessing a file in response to an access request generated in the apparatus, and a file delivery section. The file delivery section delivers, when it is determined for each of the one or more device drivers that the device driver is the one used for delivery of the file accessed by the file access section, the accessed file to that unit which is connected through the device driver.
Therefore, when a file is accessed by the file access section in response to an access request generated in the apparatus, the accessed file is delivered through the device driver used for the delivery of the file to the unit connected thereto, by the file delivery section.
Therefore, when the file is accessed in response to an access request in the apparatus, the accessed file is automatically transferred to the unit requiring the file, without any operation by the user. Therefore, the file required by each unit can be transferred at high speed and erroneous transfer procedure caused by manual operation is avoided. Therefore, the processing efficiency for transferring the accessed file to the unit requiring the file is improved.
In the file transfer apparatus, the file delivery section may include a device driver determining section. The device driver determining section determines, for each of the one or more device drivers, that the device driver is the one used for delivery of the file in accordance with the data type of the file accessed by the file access section.
Therefore, it is possible for the device driver determining section to easily determine the device driver used for file delivery, that is, the unit requiring delivery of the file, based on the data type of the accessed file. Accordingly, without any operation by the user, of the files accessed in response to access request in the apparatus, only the files corresponding to the necessary data type are selected and automatically transferred and delivered at high speed to respective ones of the plurality of units.
The file transfer apparatus may be configured in the following manner. More specifically, the apparatus further has a file selection table storing, for each of the one or more device drivers, the data type of the file of which delivery is requested by a unit connected to the corresponding device driver. The device driver determining section determines, for each of the one or more device drivers, when the data type of the file accessed by the file access section is stored in the corresponding file selection table, that the device driver is the one used for the file delivery.
Therefore, the unit requiring the file accessed by the file access section can be determined in accordance with the content of the file selection table, and the file can be transferred and delivered thereto. Accordingly, the unit which is the destination of delivery of the file accessed by the file access section can easily be determined in accordance with the contents set in the file selection table.
The file transfer apparatus may be configured in the following manner. More specifically, the apparatus further has a delivery procedure table storing, for each of the one or more device drivers, the procedure of file delivery to the unit connected to the corresponding device driver. The file delivery section delivers, in accordance with the content of the delivery procedure table corresponding to the device driver which is determined to be the device driver determining section to be that device driver which is used for the delivery of the file accessed by the file access section, the file to the unit connected to the corresponding device driver.
Therefore, delivery of the file accessed by the file access section to each unit by the file delivery section is performed in accordance with the delivery procedure in the delivery procedure table provided for respective ones of the one or more device drivers, that is, for respective units. Therefore, the file which is the object of delivery can be easily transferred and delivered to respective units simply in accordance with the delivery procedure of the delivery procedure table.
In the above described file transfer apparatus, the aforementioned one or more units include one or more input/output units for inputting/outputting information or one or more storage units for storing information, and the one or more device drivers may include one or more input/output device drivers connecting the apparatus to one or more input/output units, or one or more storage device drivers for connecting the apparatus to one or more storage units.
Therefore, as the unit connected to the apparatus and to which the file is delivered, the input/output unit for inputting/outputting information or the storage unit for storing information is connected.
Accordingly, it is possible to deliver the contents of the file accessed by the file access section to the input/output unit and to externally output (display or print), and to receive input corresponding thereto, or it is possible to store and save the contents of the accessed file in the storage unit. Accordingly, as series of procedures including access to the files, delivery of the accessed files to various units and processing of the file contents in various units can be performed at high speed.
The file transfer apparatus may be configured in the following manner. The delivery procedure of the delivery procedure table corresponding to the storage device driver includes a duplication process procedure for duplicating the file in the storage unit connected to the storage device deliver, and the delivery procedure of the delivery procedure table corresponding to the input/output device driver includes a transfer process procedure for transferring the file to the input/output unit connected to the input/output device driver.
Accordingly, to the storage unit or the input/output unit connected to the apparatus, the accessed file is duplicated or transferred to the storage unit or the input/output unit connected to the apparatus, in accordance with the duplication procedure or transfer process procedure in the delivery procedure table. Accordingly, it is possible to deliver the file while flexibly coping with the format (type) for duplication to the storage unit or the format (type) of input/output unit connected to the apparatus in accordance with the duplication process procedure or the transfer process procedure in the duplication procedure table. Therefore, limitation of the format (type) related to the input/output unit or the storage unit as the destination of file delivery is relaxed.
In the above described file transfer apparatus, the file delivery section may further include a connection determining section and a file saving section. The connection determining section determines whether an input/output unit is connected to that input/output device driver which corresponds to the device driver determined by the device driver determining section to be the device driver used for file delivery. When it is determined by the connection determining section that the connection is not established, the file saving section duplicates and saves the data related to the file accessed by the file access section in the storage unit connected to the storage device driver in accordance with the duplication process procedure corresponding to the prescribed storage device driver.
Accordingly, when it is determined by the connection determining section that the input/output unit which is the object of file delivery is not connected to the apparatus, the data related to the file is duplicated and saved by the file saving section in a storing unit corresponding to a prescribed storage device driver. Therefore, it is not necessary that the unit as the object of file delivery to be always connected to the apparatus. This increases degree of freedom of the connection of the unit to the apparatus.
The transfer apparatus may be configured in the following manner. When an input/output unit is connected to one or more input/output device drivers among one or more device drivers, the file accessed by the file access section corresponding to the data saved by the file saving section is transferred through the device driver in accordance with the corresponding transfer process procedure to the input/output unit.
Therefore, of the file accessed while the input/output unit is not connected, when that file of which delivery is requested by the input/output unit is accessed, the accessed file is temporarily saved by the file saving section and thereafter, when the input/output unit is connected, the file is delivered to the input/output equipment. Therefore, it is possible to access the file required by the input/output unit and deliver file surely to the input/output unit no matter whether the input/output unit is connected or not. This ensures file transfer to the unit.
In the file transfer apparatus, the file delivery section further includes an application file delivery section. When the file is delivered, the application file delivery section transfers the file together with an application file related to processing of the file as needed, through a device driver determined by the device driver determining section, to the unit connected to the device driver.
Therefore, when accessed file is delivered to each unit, an application file related to processing of the file is also delivered by the application file delivery section. Therefore, a unit having the accessed file and the related application file can be provided by itself separate from the apparatus, allowing flexible use of the unit.
In the file transfer apparatus, the file delivery section may be configured to convert, when the file is delivered, the content or format of the file to a prescribed content or format as needed.
Therefore, the accessed file is converted in advance to the prescribed content or format as needed and thereafter delivered to each unit. Therefore, it is possible to deliver a file of one data type with its contents or format converted to be suitable for the unit as the destination of delivery. Therefore, processing efficiency of the file in each unit as the destination of file delivery is improved.
In the file transfer apparatus, the file access section may be so configured as to access at least a file inside or outside the apparatus in response to an access request.
Therefore, the files access section accesses a file inside the apparatus and a file outside the apparatus. Therefore, the object of access can be extended from the files inside the apparatus to files outside the apparatus, for example files provided through a communication network. Therefore, various and many files can be delivered to various units, improving versatility of contents to be processed by the units.
In the file transfer apparatus, the contents of at least one of the delivery procedure table and the file selection table corresponding to the one or more device drivers may be made arbitrarily changeable by external operation.
Therefore, the contents of the delivery procedure table and the contents of the file selection table may be changed to be suitable for the device driver by external operation, for each device driver. Accordingly, the contents of each device driver can be changed in accordance with the type of the unit connected to the device driver, for example, the type of the unit to be connected is not limited, and therefore file delivery to various types of units is possible.
In the file transfer apparatus, the data type mentioned above may be indicated by information contained in an identifier for specifying the file to be accessed by the file access section.
Therefore, the data type of the file accessed by the file access section is recognized by the information contained in the identifier for specifying the file. This facilitates determination of the data type of the accessed file, and hence improves efficiency of file delivery to each unit.
The above described objects can be attained by a computer readable recording medium recording a file transfer program in accordance with the present invention, which program is to cause a computer to execute the method of file transfer. The method of file transfer is applied to an apparatus having one or more different device drivers and one or more different units connected through respective device drivers, for delivering a file to each of the one or more units through the corresponding device driver. The method of file transfer includes a file access step for accessing a file in response to an access request generated in the apparatus, and a file delivery step. In the file delivery step, for each of the one or more device drivers, when it is determined that the device driver is the one used for delivery of the file accessed in the file access step, the file accessed in the file access step is delivered to that unit which is connected through the device driver.
Therefore, when a file is accessed in the file access step in response to the access request generated in the apparatus, the accessed file is delivered through the device driver used for the delivery of the file in the file delivery step, to the unit connected thereto.
Therefore, without any operation by the user, when the file is accessed in response to an access request in the apparatus, the accessed file is automatically delivered to the unit which requires the file.
Therefore, files required by respective units can be transferred and delivered at high speed, erroneous file delivery caused by erroneous operation by the user is avoided, and processes for delivering files required by respective units can be done efficiently.
The file delivery step in the method of file transfer executed by the file transfer program recorded on the recording medium may include a device determining step for determining, for each of the one or more device drivers, based on data type of the file accessed in the file access step, that the device driver is the one used for the delivery of the accessed file.
Therefore, the device driver used for the de livery of the accessed file, that is, the unit requiring the delivery of the file is readily determined in the device driver determining step based on the data type of the file. Accordingly, without any operation by the user, only those of the files accessed in response to the access request in the apparatus, which correspond to the required data type are transferred and delivered at high speed to respective units.
The method of file transfer executed by the file transfer program recorded on the aforementioned recording medium may be adapted in the following manner. More specifically, the apparatus further has a file selection table storing, for each one of the one or more device drivers, data type of the file of which delivery is requested by a unit connected to the device driver. Here, in the aforementioned device driver selection step, for each of the one or more device drivers, when the data type of the file accessed in the file access step is stored in the corresponding file selection table, it is determined that the corresponding device driver is the one used for the delivery of the file.
Therefore, it is possible to determine a unit requiring the file accessed in the file access step in accordance with the content of the file selection table, and to transfer and deliver the file. Accordingly, based on the contents set in the file selection table, the unit which is the destination of delivery of the file accessed in the file access step can be determined easily, and therefore file delivery to respective units can be done at high speed.
The method of file transfer executed by the file transfer program recorded on the aforementioned recording medium may be adapted in the following manner. More specifically, the apparatus further has a delivery procedure table storing, for each of the one or more device drivers, the procedure of delivering the file to the unit connected to the corresponding device driver. Here, in the above described file delivery step, the file is delivered in accordance with the contents of the delivery procedure table corresponding to the device driver determined in the device driver determining step to be the one used for the delivery of the accessed file, the file to the unit connected to the corresponding device driver.
Therefore, the delivery of the files accessed in the file access step to respective units is performed in accordance with the delivery procedure of the delivery procedure table provided for each of the one or more device drivers, that is, for each unit. Therefore, it is possible to deliver accessed files to respective units simply in accordance with the contents of the deliver procedure table. This enables high speed delivery of the files to respective units.
The foregoing and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.